Maldives Yellow Rising!

The authoritarian regime that ruled Maldives, a beautiful island nation with 320,000 people for 30 years, has wrestled its way back into power -- but not without major resistance from the people.
Maldives had its first democratic elections in 2008, but a military backed coup forced President Nasheed from office in Feb. 2012. Since then, he has been arrested, sought refuge with the Indian government, been arrested again. Hundreds of people turn out for daily protests and they are summarily beaten, arrested and harassed.
What are the Maldives people fighting for? Freedom of speech, end to police brutality, no Sharia, and a free and safe election this September.
The Maldives police and military have been trained by UK law enforcement and US FBI to put down protests.
My, this looks familiar!
So far, other governments have expressed only &quot;concern&quot; and &quot;puzzlement&quot; over the situation in Maldives.
Some of us have been following the situation since the coup last year and have found the Maldives activists to be open, hopeful and full of lulz. They are eager for some help getting the world to pay attention and apply pressure on this very corrupt regime that will take the country backwards 100 years.

TL;DRMaldives government has gone rogue, snorted a fat dose of Taliban Crazy, taking down pro-freedom Facebook pages, conducting violent mass arrests of pro-freedom demonstrators and its brutal police force has even put a TV reporter into hospital critical care.

Anonymous is providing help to the population by spreading news, which is otherwise being under reported in mainstream media, and developing guides to help citizens using the Internet stay as safe as possible from state snooping.

Background

The authoritarian regime that ruled Maldives, a beautiful island nation with 320,000 people for 30 years, has wrestled its way back into power -- but not without major resistance from the people.

Maldives had its first democratic elections in 2008, but a military backed coup forced President Nasheed from office in Feb. 2012. Since then, he has been arrested, sought refuge with the Indian government, been arrested again. Hundreds of people turn out for daily protests and they are summarily beaten, arrested and harassed.What are the Maldives people fighting for? Freedom of speech, end to police brutality, no Sharia, and a free and safe election this September.The Maldives police and military have been trained by UK law enforcement and US FBI to put down protests.My, this looks familiar!

So far, other governments have expressed only "concern" and "puzzlement" over the situation in Maldives.Some of us have been following the situation since the coup last year and have found the Maldives activists to be open, hopeful and full of lulz. They are eager for some help getting the world to pay attention and apply pressure on this very corrupt regime that will take the country backwards 100 years.

Calls for a tourism boycott of the Maldives have exploded across Chinese social media networks, after allegations of discrimination against guests from China at one resort became widely circulated.
...
One of the staff members began a “revolt”, according to the post, and refused to agree to the terms of his dismissal from the “Human Resources Ministry”, labelling it “unfair treatment”.

The appeal of the eight months house arrest and 100 lashes sentence of the 15-year-old alleged rape victim after she was convicted of having had premarital sex, has been held up as the defence has been unable to obtain the court papers thus far, her attorney said Sunday.

Plumes of thick smoke rise from the small island and disappear into the brightness of the Indian Ocean. Thilafushi is a gigantic floating and burning garbage dump. It’s a stain, a black eye on this idyllic archipelago with its 1200 islands, crystal-clear lagoons and blissful tourism.

"I had arrived in the Maldives on the Rainbow Warrior to witness the world’s most sustainable fishing practice: pole and line. It’s a traditional fishing method, passed down through the generations, providing jobs and livelihoods for these small atolls with not many other forms of sustenance."

...also mad they are accused of cooking smelly things like crab, fish and other seafood in hotel rooms. Sounds like a tempest in a noodle kettle.

"According to an account of the incident, posted on March 1 on the popular Chinese online forum Tianya and the Web site of a travel company, and quickly reposted to microblogs, a quip circulating among top management at the Beach House Iruveli also had Chinese guests designated as “CN” – not for China, but for “cup noodle,” Zhao Jianke and half a dozen other former employees wrote."

In a statement released on Sunday (March 10), the MJA claimed the legislation posed serious challenges for free and independent journalism. The association therefore urged parliament to “immediately” change the extra-constitutional clauses that it said compromised the rights and freedom given to journalists by the constitution.

2012 January - Row erupts over arrest of the chief justice, who ordered the release of a government critic.2012 February - President Nasheed announces his resignation after a mutiny by the police and weeks of demonstrations over the arrest of the chief justice. Later, he says he was forced out in a coup.Vice-president Mohamed Waheed Hussain Manik is sworn as president.2012 July - Former President Nasheed is charged with illegally ordering the arrest of the chief justice, whose detention sparked protests in February. The move comes as Mr Nasheed's supporters demonstrate and demand early elections.2012 August - Commonwealth-backed investigation dismisses claims that a coup forced Mohamed Nasheed to step down as president in February. The report says Mr Nasheed resigned voluntarily.2012 October - Arrest warrant issued for former president Nasheed for ignoring a court summons and travel ban. He is accused of illegally arresting a judge. Mr Nasheed denies the charge, saying it is politically motivated. A conviction could disqualify him from contesting future presidential polls.2013 March - Police arrest Mohamed Nasheed after he failed to attend a hearing and ignored two arrest warrants. He briefly sought refuge in the Indian embassy the previous month.

Ahmed Faiz, a researcher with Amnesty International, said flogging was "cruel, degrading and inhumane" and urged the authorities to abolish it."We are very surprised that the government is not doing anything to stop this punishment - to remove it altogether from the statute books.""This is not the only case. It is happening frequently - only last month there was another girl who was sexually abused and sentenced to lashes."

Maldivian journalists protests demanding press freedom and protection after RajjeTV’s senior journalist Asward was attacked. Maldives has had a bad record in press freedom and the attack is among one of the series of attacks by the public on media.
Click link for more pictures.https://buggee.wordpress.com/2013/03/02/journalists-protest/

The coup tourism authority launched a "Sunny Side of Life" campaign (financed by coup-supporting resorts) but pro-democracy Maldivians showed how to hijack a hashtag and bring attention to human rights abuses.

Elections Commission to respond after Supreme Court issues injunction on dissolution of parties

The Political Parties Bill – ratified by President Mohamed Waheed on Tuesday (March 12) – states that parties must now meet a minimum of 10,000 members before they can be recognised as such.Following the bill’s approval by President Waheed, a total of 11 parties were removed of the EC’s political party registry, leaving five to compete in upcoming presidential elections later this year.

FP: In another recent interview you said, "Usually in a coup you kill the other man, but in this instance I remain an irritant to them." Does that imply that you fear for your safety?MN: There are always so many rumors going on in Male. Recently we've heard the that the Artur brothers from Armenia, who have a history in Kenya, have been in the Maldives. [The Artur brothers are alleged drug smugglers and hitmen from Armenia who have been implicated in a number of crimes in Kenya. Prime Minister Raila Odinga has accused them of a plot to assassinate him.] The police have commented on it and there's a very big scheme. There are all sorts of reports coming out related to these too people. There are always reports of murder attempts. Always reports of threats.FP: So why do you think it is that the government has allowed you to remain an "irritant," rather than detaining you or forcing you into exile?MN: They just couldn't! They've tried so many times. They tried a number of times and somehow every time they try to arrest me and test the waters, there's been a very big public outcry and outrage. So they just haven't been able to do that.

We would like to expand on the comments made today by President Waheed on the subject of the Artur brothers in the Maldives.
The President was briefed in January that the Artur brothers were in the Maldives, had not broken any laws and were being monitored by the police as a precaution. The administration later decided to ask them to leave once their visa extension expired.
The Artur brothers are no longer in the Maldives nor do they currently hold visas to return. The President, along with the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Ministry of Economic Development, Ministry of Defence and National Security, and the Maldives Police Service are looking into any irregular dealings during the time the Artur brothers and their associates were here and will determine if there were any breaches in protocol or conduct that need to be addressed.
Protecting our borders, our citizens and our guests is of utmost importance to the Waheed administration and we are taking this situation very seriously.--

Maldivians are fun. They totally get Anonymous and reached out to some of us about a year ago.

After the Sun, the slimy state media organ, got caught publishing a Photoshopped picture of former prez Nasheed with one of the notorious Artur brothers (see above), MV artists responded within minutes.

Maldivians are fun. They totally get Anonymous and reached out to some of us about a year ago.

After the Sun, the slimy state media organ, got caught publishing a Photoshopped picture of former prez Nasheed with one of the notorious Artur brothers (see above), MV artists responded within minutes.